Miguel Syjuco

With Ilustrado, Miguel Syjuco obliges us to remake the canons of our great classics of contemporary literature. Ilustrado is, literally, a masterpiece' Alberto Manguel It begins with a body. One anonymous winter day, the corpse of Crispin Salvador is pulled from the Hudson River. Gone is the controversial giant of Asian literature. And missing is the only manuscript of his final book, an expose of the corrupt roots of the ruling Filipino families, meant to restore his once dazzling reputation. His student, Miguel, is suspicious of the suicide verdict. He investigates: first sifting through the dead man's work for clues, then journeying from New York to Manila, seeking out family, colleagues, and anyone who might hold pieces of the puzzle. But when Miguel assembles the fragments of his mentor's past, this ambitious and rewarding novel expands into far wider contexts political, social, historical, literary. As patterns emerge, the mystery of a death deepens into the greater mysteries of life and the reader makes increasingly significant discoveries of their own, until the startling revelation of the final page. 'A big, bold, cunning, impassioned, plangent and very funny book' Scotsman 'Bristling with comic verve, metafictional playfulness, and an undertone of expatriate nostalgia ...an impressive, vibrant mix of Borgesian literary labyrinth and acerbic emigre comedy' Sunday Times 'A seethingly ambitious debut ...US critics have cited Bolano as an obvious comparison; others may think of Midnight's Children-era Rushdie' Independent

aBrilliant . . . Miguel Syjuco is his countryas most original and unflinching literary voice.a aSalman Rushdie"Itas a rare novel that leaves you reeling simultaneously with admiration, exhaustion, amazement at its authoras reach and skill, and desolation at the world it spreads out before you . . . [A] raging protest of a book.a aJames Lasdun, The New York Times Book Review (Editors Choice)From Miguel Syjuco, the winner of the Man Asian Literary Prize for Ilustrado, I Was the Presidents Mistress!! is an unflinching satire about power, corruption, sex, and all the other topics you were told never to discuss in polite company.First came the Sexy-Sexygate scandal. Then an impeachment trial. Finally, a battle royale for the presidency. At the center of this political typhoon is Vita Nova, the most famous movie star in the Philippines and a former paramour of the countryas most powerful man. Now, for the first time ever, she bares herself completely in a tell-all memoir that puts the sensational in sensationalistic.The setting: a sweating, heaving country. The time: right now. The plot: a drug war rages, an assassin brandishes a pistol, a damsel rises from ash

Un dia fred, a punta d’alba, el cadaver de Crispin Salvador, patriarca polemic de la literatura filipina, es extret de les aigues del riu Hudson, a Nova York. Els rumors diuen que s’ha sucidat. Amb ell ha desaparegut el manuscrit del llibre que estava escrivint, una obra magna que havia de ser el punt i final a molts anys d’ostracisme i silenci, i que havia de passar comptes amb la historia del seu pais, revelant les mentides, les corrupteles i els abusos de les families poderoses que l’expolien des de fa molt de temps. Miguel Syjuco, deixeble i amic del malaguanyat escriptor, torna a Manila amb l’objectiu de trobar el misterios manuscrit i "reconstruir les multiples vides" del poliedric Crispin en una biografia. L’esborrany d’aquesta biografia sera una de les tessel•les del bigarrat mosaic que l’autor i el narrador componen amb fragments de l’obra de Crispin –memories, novel•les i entrevistes–, acompanyant-lo d’agudes reflexions o acudits populars, i d’histories quotidianes o heroiques d’una galeria de personatges memorables, fins a dibuixar un fresc de diverses generacions de filipins, des del passat colonial i la independencia d’Espanya fi

Un frío amanecer, el cadáver de Crispin Salvador, polemico patriarca de la literatura filipina, es extraído de las aguas del río Hudson, en Nueva York. Se rumorea que se ha suicidado. Con el ha desaparecido el manuscrito del libro que estaba escribiendo, una magna obra que iba a poner fin a años de silencio y ostracismo, y que debia saldar cuentas con la historia de su pais, desvelando las mentiras, corruptelas y abusos de las familias poderosas que llevan decadas expoliandolo. Miguel Syjuco, discipulo y amigo del fallecido, regresa a Manila con la intencion de encontrar el misterioso manuscrito y "recomponer las multiples vidas" del poliedrico Crispin en una biografia. El borrador de esa biografia sera una de las teselas del abigarrado mosaico que el autor y a la vez narrador va componiendo con fragmentos de la obra de Crispin –memorias, novelas y entrevistas–, aderezado con agudas reflexiones o chistes populares, e historias minimas o heroicas de una galeria de personajes memorables, hasta dibujar un fresco de varias generaciones de filipinos, desde el pasado colonial y la independencia de España hasta el caotico presente.